Archive for the ‘Rhino’ Category

A once forgotten site sitting adjacent a new underground rapid transit line, this project sits on the southern gateway of Vancouver’s grand Cambie boulevard.

Designed to capture the vortex energy of the neighbouring bridgehead, building vocabulary is sweeping and spiraled to capture this energy created by the adjacent bridge ramps. Edges are curved and fragmented to evoke the idea of movement, as if the energy of the street itself is pealing the surfaces of the building apart. The building turns its corners in prow-like forms that track sun-angles and provide passive horizontal and vertical sun-shading.

Influenced by modest 1940s Americana, Junction Bakery & Bistro brings freshly baked goods and all-day casual dining to the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia. CORE worked with restaurateur Noe Landini and chef/baker Nathan Hatfield to create an inviting space that uncovers the building’s 1940s character as a grocery store, while connecting to Del Ray’s railroad history. Junction blends the warmth of dining at home and the energy of a working bakery.

The Federal Way Performing Arts and Event Center (PAEC) puts cultural arts at the heart of urban vitality, establishing a core identity and focal point for a rapidly growing, richly diverse community. This multi-functional 46,013-square-foot center and adjacent civic park are positioned to catalyze ongoing development and investment in the city for years to come, ensuring Federal Way’s vibrant future in the region. The PAEC opened to the community on August 19.

Imagined as a gallery for the client’s artwork and lifestyle – colorful and social.

The apartment, in a building that was originally a factory, looked like a regular old rental when we started: home depot finishes, awkward walls, a tiny master bath and a powder room. My clients brightened it up with their colorful art collection, and I wanted to design a home for them that would inspire and freshen their palate and complement the artwork for their frequent home parties.

The winery program is the result of the need to produce wine and organize a relationship with the existing land house. There are four main spaces for the wine production with three more areas between them. These three are service spaces with all the facilities and storage. The first main space in the right, next to the laboratories and freezers, is the one for all the farming instruments and tools for the vineyards. The second one is for all the vats needed for the “mosto wine” production. The third one is for those vats and bottles that are resting. The last one, and forth, is the area for tastings, enjoyment and storage of the bottles that are ready to be open. The access through a tunnel from the upper side of the house serves as organizer for the circulation of the owners. The three remaining service areas are accessed directly from the vineyards.

The Stack House is essentially a stack of blocks. Solid blocks of private spaces are stacked in an open, laced pattern to form voids for shared living space. The blocks are positioned in response to the urban and natural setting in relation to the site. The result is an open, two-story void of shared space that is simultaneously protected for privacy and immersed in its natural surroundings. Contrasting materials express this stacking and shifting on the exterior. Inside, the blocks are carefully carved with curves and surfaced in white oak to shape more intimate spaces to join a family together to share a meal, to recline, read and take in the majestic oak outside, or to play the piano and fill the void with music.

[GOL]KHANEH is located on the outskirts of the city of Karaj, about 60km west of Tehran. It is designed and built as a vacation home for a family of 6.

Two adjacent but separate plots – each about 5000 square meters – form the site for this project. One of the plots was thick with old fruit trees while the other, adjacent to a noisy street with a chaotic line of low-rise residential buildings, was dry and barely had any trees because of a previous fire. Therefore, the plot with few trees and vegetation was chosen as the building site and creating a buffer to maximize privacy and limit views and noise transfer from the neighbouring street to the site quickly became a priority in design.

Situated in a prominent building from 1906, SUSURU Ramen and Gyoza bar enlivens the façade and street it rests on. Working closely with the City Council, the design breaks away from the traditional mining aesthetic typical of the area. As the city grows and develops, it attracts more foreign attention, whom don’t necessarily have the same rapport with what was largely a mining town many years ago. The SUSURU restaurant is for the newcomers, for those visiting, and most importantly, for those long term residents wanting to see the city develop and diversify.

A Work of Substance was tasked to redesign and rebrand The Fleming Hotel, originally opened in 2006. A new take on the architecture, interior, products, and identity transformed The Fleming into a 66-room boutique hotel that is a true reflection of Hong Kong. Occupying a building from the 70s’, the hotel stands in Wan Chai close to Victoria Harbour front. The multilayered design concept draws inspiration from the location and history, leveraging Hong Kong’s maritime heritage and 70s’ industrial era to create a cultural, social and efficient character. One landmark that embodies these three elements is the Star Ferry — having connected people across the harbour for over a century, it is a piece of Hong Kong’s collective memory and identity. The Star Ferry, a unique and elegant icon of Hong Kong’s past and present, became the foundation for every design detail, including the custom designed furniture and lighting. Nostalgia is further evoked by colours and scents: Carmine reds and bottle greens — hues seen on the hull of Hong Kong’s ferries, fishing boats, delivery trucks, and temples —and apothecary-inspired toiletries and custom aroma of sandalwood and amber notes, to deliver an authentic sense of place.

Five years after Hurricane Sandy devastated the cooperative beachfront community of Breezy Point, Queens, the project built upon a lot that had been reduced to sand is complete. Houses in Breezy Point are set close together and linked by pedestrian paths; cars are confined to lots at the periphery. The client’s site was unusually wide, with 68 feet of south-facing beach frontage. Flood regulations required building at least six feet off of the ground, while co-op regulations put the maximum building height at 28 feet. The co-op also required a setback from the lot line of 32 feet at the lot’s widest point. The resulting building envelope was much shallower than wide, allowing nearly every room to have an ocean view. One of the primary design strategies was stepping the south-facing facade to allow windows to wrap corners. That created diagonal sightlines up and down the beach, framing vistas and visually expanding the interior spaces. Angled roof profiles and ceiling finishes also direct the eye upward and outward.